Shady sloping streets cover college Hill inProvidence ($9.50 on the Attleboro/Stoughtonline), home of Brown University and the RhodeIsland School of Design. Thayer Street, adownsized Haight-Ashburry, crowns College Hill.

Out There

Northern New England offers opportunities forhiking, camping and sightseeing aplenty.

The Presidential Range in northern NewHampshire is home to the world's worst weather, atthe peak of Mt. Washington.

Winter wind speeds of 231 mph have beenrecorded at the top of the 6,288-foot mountain.

In the summer the weather is a little tamer,and you can hike up to the summit or take a cograilway.

Straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting, therustic villages of western Mass. Are among theremaining outposts of small-town New England.Nestled in the rolling Berkshires, Greyhoundserves Stockbridge, Williamstown and other townsin the area.

Meanwhile, Vermont to the north is dotted withantiques shops and picturesque Green Mountainhamlets, Vermont is ideal for hiking on theAppalachian Trail (AT) or biking on the state'swooded dirt roads. Home to he hippie capitalistempire of Ben & Jerry's in Barre, Vermont Transit,whose buses run frequently from South Station.

The largest New England state, Maine, boastsboth a beautiful, lighthouse-studed coastline andmajestic inland mountain peaks.

The AT terminates at Mt. Katahdin, andshoreline ports and Kennebunk and Bar Harbor drawthousands of visitors annually. Tourists alsoflock to Freeport to shop at L.L. Bean.

Water, Water

The ocean has long been the lifeblood of theNew England economy, and all along the coastfishing, whaling and shipping ports testify to thecrucial role the sea has played in the history ofthe region.

Along the North Shore, Gloucester ($7.50 roundtrip on the T's Rockport line) was once a majorfishing center. Today the town fills withbeach-goers in the summer.

Just to the north, Rockport ($8 round trip)sits at the end of Cape Ann, a windswept villagereplete with beaches and a shopping promenade.

Whaling formed the backbone of the New Bedford(Bonanza bus lines, $20 round trip) economy in the19th century, and today the fishing fleetcontinues to anchor in the harbor.